This week we welcomed the federal government's announcement that a respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine for pregnant women would be included on the National Immunisation Register.
Minister for Health and Aged Care Mark Butler announced this week that eligible pregnant women would get free access to the RSV vaccine, Abrysvo®, under the National Immunisation Program.
The free maternal RSV vaccine will be available to women who are 28 to 36 weeks pregnant, to protect their newborn babies from serious illness.
The AMA welcomed the news, having supported raised awareness of the dangers of RSV for children, including through RSV awareness week. Former AMA President Professor Steve Robson highlighted the issue last year , telling media that RSV was an "unpredictable and potentially dangerous virus that puts thousands of infants in hospital each year and can cause serious long-term health issues".
Professor Robson experienced firsthand the danger of RSV, with his son falling dangerously ill with RSV when he was a small child.
"I almost lost my son when he was a toddler and to this day it is still hard for me to talk about," Professor Robson said.
"He was extremely ill and spent close to two weeks in hospital, much of that time in the paediatric high dependency unit. His recovery took a long time."
Almost all infants will be infected with RSV before the age of two, with around 12,000 babies admitted to hospital each year with severe RSV. It is a leading cause of hospitalisation of babies in Australia.
The free maternal RSV vaccine will be available from February 3, 2025.
